Yesterday I had to go to Canberra for a funeral of a very dear friend. Eric (Erk) Morgan was 88 years old had been suffering from dementia for around 7 years so his death, while tragic for his family, was also a relief of sorts from the responsibility of visiting the nursing home and watching their beloved husband and father slowly waste away.
I first met Eric, and his wonderful wife, Muriel, in 1976, not long after I had moved to Canberra to live. They were comparative new arrivals to the nation’s capital themselves, having moved there from Guilford in Sydney’s inner west some two years before. Their son, John, had attracted my attention at both Oran Park and Amaroo Park, piloting a very quick Suzuki GT250 in 250 Production and 250 Improved Production races. Back then, 250 was the breeding ground for the top riders and the list of the greats who started their career in 250 Production is long and illustrious.
At the time I already had the idea of starting a specialised road racing club in the ACT and was trying to compile a list of local riders who raced out of the area as members of Sydney-based clubs. Eric and Muriel travelled to the meetings with John and helped in any way they could. It was clear to me right from the start that theirs was a unique marriage. Muriel was all energy and ideas never afraid to push the boundaries or get her hands dirty in pursuit of the dream, Eric was the quiet backroom guy who made sure that those ideas could actually happen. As parents of a budding road racer you could scarcely get a better arrangement.
A little later, when I had got to know them better and the formation of the club was in process, I learned the amazing and tragic story of the Morgan family. They had three children; John, the eldest, Kathy, a gorgeous and vivacious blonde already married to George and Tania, also gorgeous but apparently totally uninterested in motorcycling, spending her spare time pursuing a career in show jumping (horses).
One evening in their lounge room, Muriel told me the story of their other child. Bryan was the eldest boy, the apple of his parents’ eye. Wanting to pursue a career in road racing, he had joined Northern Districts Motorcycle Club and had competed at his first road race meeting as a “C” Grade novice. Not long after, riding his Honda 500/4 on the road, he was hit by a car and was killed.
I was stunned, not just because I felt for their loss but because I had arrived at the point in their lives where they were not only prepared to let their next (and now only) son, ride a motorcycle, but also go racing. The way they explained it was that, if John was determined to ride, then the track was the safest place and, as long as he didn’t ride on the road, which he never seemed to want to, for obvious reasons, they were prepared to support him. It still staggers me the strength of character that they exhibited so soon after Bryan’s death.
We became fast friends and have remained so though the intervening years. John progressed from a GT250 proddy bike to a TZ250 Yamaha and then a TZ350 Yamaha which was his 21st birthday present from Eric and Muriel. The look on his face that night when Murray Ogilvie whisked the blanket off the bike and unveiled the TZ was priceless.
John, together with his parents, began a whirlwind few years, chasing the races all over the eastern states of Australia. They once travelled overnight from Canberra to Lakeside in Queensland for a meeting only to find out that the meeting had been cancelled (no internet back then, it was all down to letters). So they turned around and came home (the letter arrived the next day)
Muriel was the organisational genius, taking John’s career in hand and making sure the dots were dotted and the t’s were crossed. Eric was a perfectionist, in everything that he did. John’s bikes were usually the best prepared and the best presented in the paddock and Erk made sure they stayed that way. Muriel’s brother ran a heavy engineering company in Silverwater and the Morgan bikes were always presented in the dark blue livery of Cedray Engineering and, as such, made a rolling billboard for the company.
Eric was a keen rider himself and was inordinately proud of his 1977 BMW R100RS which he continued to ride until just a few years ago.
By this stage, Canberra Road Racing Club had been formed and was booming. With a core foundation membership of 50 people (mostly riders), the club grew rapidly and soon outgrew its original meeting place, the double garage at Eric and Muriel’s home in Melba. The initial committee of CRRC consisted of Kathy Ruston , Secretary, George (her husband) treasurer, Muriel, Race Secretary, Erk was editor of the club magazine (Flat Chat) and I was the founding president. As you can see, it was real family affair.
John’s racing took him all over the place but John was also a canny guy who had a very clever mother. Muriel ran her own commercial cleaning company, servicing many of the most important government and public service offices in Canberra and, clever business woman that she was, she realised that her son’s career in racing was only going to take him so far. John worked for his mum’s company to pay the bills and, not long after the club was formed, he started his own business, specialising in carpet cleaning. Once again it was a family affair with John doing the outward bound work and Kathy being the office manager. The business grew spectacularly and while for a start it appeared that the growth was going to enable an expanded racing programme, John (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree) realised however that, if the business were to thrive and prosper, then something had to give; he couldn’t maintain a full programme in both areas.
So, early in 1982, John quit racing, having achieved a rise to “B” Grade and with a cabinet full of hardware as the tangible evidence of his success. He threw himself fully into the business and, with the backing of his parents and all that they had taught him, he turned it into a huge success. John has now retired from running his business but the Morgan Group is still going strong and little sister Kathy still heads up the office. John still goes in to work and does the occasional cleaning jobs just to keep his hand in. Clients can’t quite figure out how it is that the boss is cleaning their carpet, but, as he says, he still likes doing the job, so why shouldn’t he? The work ethic ingrained in him from Eric and Muriel will never be erased.
Erk and Muriel took their turn at tree changing, living out of Bungendore on acreage and also at Moruya on an idyllic coastal property. But, as the family grew, and grandchildren started coming along, they realised that they were too far away and so they returned to Canberra where they lived together, not far from where CRRC all began some 37 years ago. Muriel cared for Erk at home until nearly the end when caring for him became too hard.
Eric Charles Morgan passed away on the 28th of April and his friends and his extended family gathered in Canberra yesterday to bid him one last farewell. And a fitting farewell it was. I confess to having a large lump in my throat for the most of the service and the wake afterwards. I was stunned to be asked to speak at the wake on behalf of the members of CRRC who were there as well as those who couldn’t make it. I spoke of Erk’s honesty, his perfectionism, his love of family and his love of motorcycling. I was humbled to be asked and it was hard to find the appropriate word to try and sum up the life and legacy of such a wonderful man.
The picture above is of a fabulous bunch of CRRC people, all people who I am proud to call my friends. (l-) they are. Mick Streeter, George Ruston, Kathy Ruston, Erk’s widow, Muriel, John Morgan, Dave Bailey, Allan McNiece, Mick Allen, Pete Raby and me. All foundation members of CRRC and the finest bunch you could imagine. It was a shame that we had to meet again after such a long time at such an occasion, but I’m sure Erk would have approved wholeheartedly.
RIP Eric Charles Morgan, you really were one of the good guys.
jeffb says
Nice tribute , Phil. Sounded like he and his wife are wonderful people. Thanks for sharing about Eric and the CRRC.
Phil Hall says
Wonderful is the word, mate.
teza51 says
A very nice story and a great tribute
Phil Hall says
Thanks, mate. Incidentally, if you are missing $20 I have it. You dropped it when you were paying for your coffee the other night.